Natural notes and the two half steps

The rules

• Seven natural notes: A B C D E F G, then back to A
• Half step = 1 fret. Whole step = 2 frets.
• Naturals are a whole step apart, except B–C and E–F (half step, no fret between)
• Skipped frets are sharps and flats. Ignore them for now.

Walking the low E string

• E 0, F 1, G 3, A 5, B 7, C 8, D 10, E 12
• Don’t trust the fret dots: D is at 10, the dot is at 9. Trust the rule.

Hear it

Do this

1. Up the low E string, frets 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, naming each aloud.
2. Back down: “E, D, C, B, A, G, F, E.”
3. Spot the two one-fret moves: those are the half steps.
4. Once a day until it’s boring. Works from any open string.

Check

• You can name the two half-step pairs instantly